Early attempts at wireless data transmission evolved around
proprietary technologies. Usually, the cost to deploy such networks
limited their use to that of large companies. The services
offered usually revolved around some form of dispatch
service. Today, however, cellular networks are ubiquitous and
quite capable of serving the data requirements of not only large
companies, but individuals. Cellular is changing the way we
communicate on an everyday basis.
Another factor in moving to a Wireless Internet is the size
of computing devices. Miniaturization and improved batteries
are providing smaller, better mobile tools. Laptops and PDAs
are small enough to be very mobile but powerful enough to
tackle anything that we might do on a desktop computer.
Portability and connectivity can be readily achieved. Now a
mobile businessman can be more productive because he can
access his data in his office or retrieve data stored from a global
Internet connection. As the performance of the Wireless
Internet approaches that of a fixed connection, there is no
longer a need to remain tethered to a desk.
There are two types of Wireless Internet connections: those
through cellular and those through a mobile data network.
There is a very big distinction between these two types of connection.
Cellular has traditionally been a circuit-switched connection,
whereas mobile data networks are packet based. The
next generation cellular standards will eliminate this difference.
Data on the Wireless Internet will be packet-based using
TCP/IP, the same protocol used on the Internet. The spectrum
resource or channel will become a shared resource, and new
methods of usage billing rather than airtime billing will emerge.
Data speed will also increase from 64 Kbps to more than 2
Mbps depending on the technology.
The Wireless Internet is a natural and inevitable progression
from the wired Internet when you consider today’s wireless
communications devices, a very mobile society, and a free
market economy where anything can be sold if it has the right
sales approach. Cellular penetration is very high, with over 1
billion cellular users projected by the end of 2002. Some estimates
put data revenue streams in 2006 higher than today’s
voice revenue streams. This may be a bit optimistic but it is
clear the demand for wireless data transmission is growing. A
cellular device is a personal device and the value of wireless
data is in the knowledge of the user, his buying habits, his location
and other personal information. The proper use this
knowledge will create new revenue streams. Applications must
be created that the user cannot live without.
The terminal market varies to users’ demand. As we stated earlier,
a Wireless Internet device does not have to resemble a cellular
phone or even possess the functionality of a cellular phone.
The new Wireless Internet will be accessed by many new devices
and methods. Voice functionality does not necessarily need to
reside on the device. Voice recognition and text-to-speech may be
the solution for access. User interfaces must change to reflect the
wider spectrum of data throughput. Displays and keyboards may
no longer be of primary importance: If you have voice recognition
and text-to-speech capabilities, do you need a bigger display and
keyboard? Maybe the Wireless Internet device will require no
human interface. Technologies used in terminal devices are large ly determined by the application required. (In Chapters 4 and 5
we discuss this subject further.) 36